11.25.2006

Bekah and I have experienced frustration with our supposed college level communications class. At our school, communication is a fancy word for English, and the class seems as if it was intended for sixth graders (or as an English as a second language class).

This week is the last week of class, so one would think the material we are covering would be a higher difficulty level than previous weeks. Yet, last week we had an assignment on strategies to remember proper usage of commonly misused words like raze/raise or am/pm. Am/pm?! Who over the age of twelve does not know the difference between am and pm? We also had a quiz that asked us which word was the correct word... protectedest or most protected.

I feel like I am in a junior high remedial grammar class. But as time goes by, I see more and more why classes like this exist. Even the professionals need help. The following is copied word for word (I kid you not) from Yahoo sports. It is a description of Toronto Raptors' point guard T.J. Ford.

"Ford's scoring average has risen to 16.2 points per game, but he's still been inconsistent on the offensive end as he tries to get use to his knew surroundings. " (see it here)

11.17.2006

Exhibit A: A Walmart in California viewed the crowd waiting for the midnight release of the Playstation 3 as an inconvenience. Some genius of the management kind decided that it would be a good idea to have ALL of the hopeful PS3 owners to wait outside. Pandemonium revolt ensued. In the chaos, clothing racks were toppled, products was dumped and scattered across the floor, police were called, and the store was completely shut down. Poor saps had to wait a little longer to make their longed for purchase. The store did not open until 7:00am.

Exhibit B: A Walmart in Wisconsin had a stock of ten Playstation 3's to sell at midnight. They had 50 people waiting in line. Only a minor problem with a simple solution. Store employees set out ten chairs and made an announcement that the first ten people to site in the chairs could purchase the new PS3. 40 people left empty handed, one of which left with a few less brain cells. In the mad dash to fill a chair, one customer ran head first into a flag pole.

Exhibit C: There are flyers advertising the 'tree of sharing' plastered in every nook and cranny at my work. The flyer in the elevator has a unique handwritten addition, explaining the purpose of the tree of sharing. It reads, "The tree of sharing is to give employees kid toys."... I always wanted kid toys! Do we get to pick for ourselves? If so, I want a Lite Brite.

Exhibit D: At a Walmart (noticing a trend) in Connecticut, a crowd of future PS3 owners were confronted by two gunman. One person was shot for not complying. Sorry, but this one is not as funny as the other two Walmart incidents. In fact, it is just not funny at all.

11.14.2006

We are moved. Not unpacked... but moved. The moving experience went much smoother than expected, for that I am grateful.

I was anticipating a sloppier move, weather wise that is. The skies set loose precipitation of the flaky kind midweek, and I immediately started planning out worst case scenarios as wet sticky snow gathered outside my office window. I was not looking forward to driving a U-Haul through slush or snow, back and forth between old and new residences.

But alas, nature proved to more optimistic than I. The roads were drying out by Friday, and Saturday (moving day) brought sunshine. What started out as gloom gradually progressed into sunny skies.

Local weather, unfortunately, bears no resemblance to human rights in North Idaho. In fact they seem to be polar opposites. Thanks to a recent lapse of judgment, one North Idaho judge seems to have opened old wounds of racial bigotry. We may have put on a happy face, but bruises remain.

In contrast to the weather, civil liberties started out pleasant. But it gotten colder and gloomier in the last few weeks. Winter suddenly has a whole new meaning.

11.13.2006

I was nervous for a while this week as the weather decided that precipitation of the flaky kind was a good idea. With snow falling midweek and looking like it would continue through the weekend, I was not looking forward to driving the U-Haul between new and old residences.

But nature proved to be more optimistic than I had been, and the weather gradually improved. It started to dry out on Friday and we had sunshine for most of the moving party on Saturday. After $70 worth of pizza Saturday afternoon, all was looking well.

This change of gloom to sunnier skys bears little resemblance to civil rights issues in North Idaho. Thanks to the recent courtroom absurdities in Boundary County, civil rights here seem to be working in reverse of the weather. What seemed to be sunshine seems to be getting colder and cloudier.

11.04.2006

I am writing an essay for my COM120 class about the effectiveness of controversial advertising and I need some input.

Think about some TV advertisements you have seen, either sexual or violent in nature. Were you offended? Are there commercials that have offended you? Do these commercials inspire you to purchase whatever the ad is hawking? Are there products that you won't buy due to the subject matter of the commercials?

There is one ad campaign that stands out in my mind from Firestone Tires. The commercial features two highly attractive people provocatively dancing in the rain. The man is dressed formally, the woman is wearing a thin, strappy, white dress. (did I mention they were dancing in the rain?) It is not till the end of the commercial that you discover they are advertising tires instead of waterproof lipstick or dancing lessons. What is the point? Does that make you want to buy tires? Not me.

Please take a moment and post a comment for me. I don't usually beg for comments, but I would like a few (several) of you to answer the above questions. Thank you.

11.03.2006

Christian is two in almost every sense of the word: the temper tantrums, the clumsiness, the moments of hilarity that every parent lives for. And he is also all boy: pushing, stealing, falling down and getting back up like nothing happened, and flirting. (I am only half kidding about that last one.)

Some parents find entertaining toddlers of this variety easy. Some friends of ours has a daughter a few months younger than Christian who is obsessed with the movie 'Shrek.' Pop in either Shrek movie and she is glued to the screen. Play the movie over and over, and she ignores you for hours. This TV tactic is common amongst young parents. As much as I do not want Christian to become a TV addict, I must admit I have tried it myself.

Those attempts were of course utter failures. My two year old son has no interest in TV. None. I sometimes don't know what to do with myself. Toddlers are self centered by nature, and they need that time that is devoted to them to be able to function. With out TV our only options are tickle fights (which can only last a few minutes since he can't fight back) and reading. You put twenty kiddy books in front of Christian and he will expect you to read each and everyone to him.

I guess that is a good thing. A passion for literature is something that seems to be dying more with each new generation. Why read a book when you could just watch the movie? I like to read, so it seems fitting that Christian does as well. However, I have completely memorized Dr. Seuss' ABC's, I'm starting to wish they'd make a movie of Are You My Mother, and if I have to read the insipid One Kitten For Kim one more time I will need shock therapy.

Christian loves books. If you read to him, you will have his undivided attention for at least 20 minutes. Bekah bought a board book with pictures hidden under flaps at Costco a couple of weeks ago, and that book has entertained him more than anything else. Best purchase we have ever made for him. He will turn the pages cover to cover and then back again, examining every secret window with the type of wide eyed wonder that only a child could possess. He sat through almost an entire episode of Law & Order the other night with nothing more than that one book to capture his attention; the only time he ever looked away from the book is when he found a picture of a girl pushing a horse out of a barn. He looks up at me and asks, "Pushing?" Once I confirmed that he correctly identified the picture, he went right back to reading.

We have found one other (slightly discouraging) method of entertainment. Christian likes to destroy things; he loves making messes. Yet another personality trait he inherited from me. He doesn't play with his toys, but you'd never know by looking at his room. If we clean his room then shut him inside, we easily have about 45 minutes to an hour to do anything we need to while he pulls every toy out of its place and drops it somewhere on the floor. Once every toy is out and scattered, we repeat the process. Clean the room so he can clutter it again. Or we just read to him some more.

About

nic is a geek dad, a professional nerd, a pop-culture junkie, a joyful noise kind of singer (with an emphasis on noise), a sloppy and undisciplined guitarist, and a funky white boy with no sense of rhythm. He is a former actor who still loves the theater, a former architecture student who still loves drafting and design, and a former graphic artist who has lost his touch. He has an artist's heart with very little artistic talent. He is a pessimistic optimist or an optimistic pessimist.

He spends Thursday nights watching movies with his kids and hangs out with his church's worship band on the weekends. His thoughts end up here.The Faithful Geek is nic's exploration of parenthood, corporate life, and the strange intersection where faith and pop culture meet.